Elections 2024: The PM’s controversial speech sets stage for Phase 2 | Faye D'Souza

well less than a week before phase two of the Lok SAA uh voting takes place the prime minister of course made that very controversial speech in Rajasthan um where the opposition you know has called it hate speech but there are a lot of different things moving on the ground right now so we're going to look first of all at Rajasthan as a state uh we're also going to look at the prime minister's speech all of the responses that have come out of it and where you know has is that sort of a turning point of this election because there are a couple of things that we're reading columns in the Indian Express in the Hindu in the Quint about how maybe the 400 the charal you know slogan um has created some sort of overconfidence where the turnout was a little low we're going to examine all of those things and see where we are right now saying hello to pratique Vash who's a supporter remember you can become a supporter of us by clicking on the Subscribe button and subscribing this is our uh sort of joint effort with the team at Quint so you can look at the Quint website and the Quint YouTube page for more news from there end as well joining me right now to help us uh understand what is going on Mr Ren Mahan is a very senior journalist who's um always very closely looked at the state of Rajasthan also adiya man and political editor of Quint who sits down with us every uh Wednesday to continue our conversations uh Mr Mahan Andia thank you so much for joining us I'm want to get straight to it okay Mr van it happened in your state um the controversial uh you know speech on Sunday where the Prime Minister effectively said that uh you know the Congress will take your wealth down to your you know your your jewelry and your mongal sura and distribute it among the Muslims he referred to the Muslims as Gates or infiltrators and people who have a lot of children since then a lot has happened but do you believe that this is some kind of Turning Point uh for this has it made a difference uh or is it really you know the media really over you know thinking these these instances uh in terms of uh the ground impact of his speech I can tell you that U it has had some resonance in parts of Rajasthan but to imagine that this has suddenly been able to achieve what possibly the Prime Minister and the BJP wanted to achieve through that uh through that speech which is to polarize voters uh from the ground reports that one is getting from the reactions that one is getting from different parts of the state it doesn't look like that the bjp's dream of polarizing the electorate uh is succeeding uh the uh the election in Rajasthan is actually being is still sort of revolving largely around cast large around other issues and not so much uh around this Hindu Muslim uh sort of agenda that the bjp's had specifically in the last decade of course it's a general agenda that they've had for more than three four decades it's an ideological sort of U uh standpoint that they have on certain issues I think the prime minister's speech in a certain sense is very clearly a sign that the BJP wants to turn this election and the discourse of this election around Hindu Muslim uh you know issues they haven't been able to achieve that till the first phase I don't think it's particularly happening at least in Rajasthan yes it's created a huge Buzz because of the kind of comments that the Prime Minister made um it's not just that the Congress and the opposition has reacted I think a large number of neutrals and uh you know concerned citizens have also been outraged at the kind of comments that have been made and therefore uh while the BJP is hoping that this will lead to a kind of uh you know Hindu Muslim thing it doesn't seem to be because in Rajasthan for instance I can tell you even the ram Temple issue is not really as huge as the BJP was hoping it will be it is other issues like for instance in parts of Rajasthan it is the agne be scheme that's creating residence a lot of the young uh younger generation is angry at the simple bread and butter issues the fact that their lives haven't really improved dramatically in these 10 years they're still remaining jobless they're still remaining rather desperate in their lives and so there I think in many ways the discourse that the BJP wants to set is what is behind the uh you know rather offensive speech that the Prime Minister made in BW and I mean you know it is in the tribal belt and it provoked an immediate reaction yes from the uh you know in bans It's actually an alliance candidate who's fighting uh but it created a buzz within the political sort of leadership levels at the grassroot levels it's not going as easily as the BJP might have hoped fa no so U and and then that's really interesting other there was some studies also that said that the first phase of election because the BJP slogan is Char so par they might have been a lot of people who were supporters who felt hey you know what he's going to win anyway even if I don't go out and vote it's all right and that did that lead to a lower turnout is that what is triggering a lot of sort of you know it it does feel like parties have changed gear after the first phase of voting doesn't it so Charo par it can have an effect on both both BJP as well as opposition voters even opposition voter it's possible starts believing that Modi is winning anyway so what's the point of me wasting uh my vote uh so I mean it can cut both ways in that sense but uh I think what has become evident uh is is that uh the areas where BJP is winning probably the competition isn't as much and also the voters enthusiasm isn't what it was in 2019 2019 we must remember that pulv balakot had just happened there was a nationalistic wave uh clearly there is no wave this time and to get Char soar you need that kind of a wave which probably isn't there uh so that's I think another reason why BJP is a little bit nervous uh and uh they do probably seem that uh feel that uh the the performance and development oriented promises aren't delivering uh them to that to the extent that they hoping uh so probably that's why they are trying these tactics as well it's also interesting because when the when the prime minister's speech happened on Sunday there was a reaction largely on social media to that speech and everyone was watching at least among us as journalists we were all watching to see if the BJP will try and explain it or try and sort of roll it back in some way but they have not they've stood their ground after that we've had Yogi Adian who made a statement saying the Congress will bring in Sharia law so he took it one step further which is in his personality to do he tends to do that there's no mention of anything of that sort in the manifesto of the congress party whatsoever but at this point I don't think anyone's reading that Manifesto then it went one step further Sam Peta made a statement um and you know this is being called motor mouth where he actually suggested that oh you know the US has a inheritance tax maybe we should discuss that the Prime Minister has picked that up now and said that they you know they're going to take your wealth not just when you're alive but even after you're dead so this is now turned into uh you know we've had Priyanka Gandhi respond as well so it's turned it's sort of Taken on a life of its own Mr Mahan do you believe the inheritance tax issue and the fact that the Congress at this point has shot itself in the foot like it tends to do before an election on a regular basis is going to make a difference in the bjp's favor well uh to some extent it could especially with the Urban voters and uh you know upper class voters who in any case to be honest uh tend to be uh somewhat more uh inclined to favor the BJP uh what it does is of course that it creates a certain nervousness perhaps in many sections of the middle class also which could be uh which could damage the Congress prospects but to be very honest you know a lot of the big buzz that keeps happening on social media doesn't necessarily get reflected uh in the on the ground situation and uh the inheritance tax or the estate duties these are issues which ideally you know need to be left to experts to discuss and debate of course Congress STS like Mr Peta have this tendency of turning even election sort of uh um moments into some kind of college level debates where they're trying to score points Etc and project their own intellectual sort of finess without realizing that you know elections are very very sensitive very very delicate business and you cannot you know come up with dubious theories and fancy sort of you know rational for rather esoteric theories they need to be left we need to have a CER a more sensible debate for sure because the inequalities in the country have grown so huge we do need to discuss and debate issues of this kind but are elections just a right time or the right forum for all of that doubt if that is true so in a certain sense you're right the Congress has to a certain extent shot itself in the foot put one caveat how many what percentage of Indians are actually likely to be impacted by estate d inheritance taxes I mean you know there's a large chunk of this country I mean 80 CR people in this country according to the government's own uh claims are still just uh you know getting rations uh free from the government and surviving so where people the average common citizen this country the armad is battling for sheer survival there to think that uh an issue like the inheritance tax yes it'll be greatly popular among the chattering classes it may also be uh you know it will help a lot of people in Delhi to come up with you know the commentar to come up with their own fancy theories and their fancy analysis Etc but on the ground is it going to make a huge dent to the Congress prospects doubt it very much uh we'll give a talking point to the BJP for sure it's it's interesting though because the Prime Minister has said in his in his speech I think it was today where he said it is the middle class money that they're going to go after so he was very clear uh he's not he's not talking about the super rich he said middle class money is what they will go after adya there's a question for you uh I always throw the hard ones to you right harsh Kumar says would the prime minister's speech be called a planned action by the BJP so is it part of strategy this I think he's referring to what happened on Sunday or are they just panicking after phase one does the BJP ever Panic no I think mostly what the Prime Minister says is almost always planned uh and uh even if there is I mean I think there is a realistic understanding in the BJP that Char soar is not that achievable but even then this is definitely planned the Prime Minister really in increases the tempo gradually as the campaign progresses uh also this was aimed at areas going to polls in the second phase particularly Southern Rajasthan where uh the the the murder of the tayor had also taken place it's also Coastal Karnataka both areas where polarization tactics have uh in the past worked to some extent so it was aimed at that uh the second part which I I found interesting is that BJP is turning this entire discourse of both social justice as well as wealth redistribution they're giving it a communal spin uh so PM said that the wealth your wealth will be taken and given to Muslims and to infiltrators today we had Ani putting out a misleading kind of a post saying that all Muslim communities in Karnataka are availing of reservation uh even though it's not true only obcs among Muslims many of whom would have been SC had they not being Muslim only they AA of reservation Sayad shik patan the other Elites among Muslims they do not have reservation so it's a misleading post but so even social justice politics is now being given a communal space this I think a very very deliberate strategy by the BJP yeah and and um this is the fasc add to can I just add to what please I I you just adding on to what ad is saying it's definitely a well planned move and it's I think also at one level a counter to uh you know that um Congress campaign where they've spoken about how this Char soar was actually a ploy to uh bring in uh you know massive changes or major changes into the constitution of India and there has been also the whole idea of getting uh those from the backward uh sections SCS STS OBC to start believing that the reservations may be scrapped and that is something that the BJP is really worried about because it is something that has had a resonance there have been many people in uh different parts of Rajasthan who have reacted and said well uh you know we are a little concerned about the reservations uh being scrapped so I think this whole attempt to change the social justice narrative from being uh you know focused around neutral issues of social justice to giving it a communal spin is what the BJP is trying to try and neutralize what on the ground the Congress had virtually achieved in the first phase and still uh three or 4 days ago at spreading a kind of narrative in which it looked like the BJP was going to uh you know uh threaten India's democracy India's Constitution and especially Target towards uh uh changing the whole um you know reservation uh issue and bringing in uh upper cast you know the the backwards among the upper cast or on economic basis to try and dissolve the uh reservations which uh and the quotas which the backwards have enjoyed in the last last 70 years so I think uh the it's a systematic move to try and uh cut down that narrative which the Congress was trying to create on the ground so so Mr in in the column that you wrote uh at on the Quint website and for our audience you can go to the Quint website and take a look at the column that Mr Mahan has written you talked about the fact that you know the Congress has been talking about uh unemployment it's been talking about inflation it's been talking about those kind of issues whereas the BJP sort of U you know list of issues has not really struck a cord um do you believe that that's going to continue to make a difference now going into the vote for Rajasthan in the second phase yes I think so I as adya mentioned I don't think the Modi wave is as huge or anywhere as huge as it was in the last two elections uh also you know fa uh people are now beginning to question the performance of the BJP MPS at least in Rajasthan there are seats where the two-time uh sitting MPS are in trouble and you know even big guns like uh Oma the speaker of the assembly is facing quite a challenge in Kota and even gajendra Singh shikat In jpur is not as comfortable he may still squeeze through but is not as comfortable to have the kind of grand majority with which he won his last two elections so what I'm saying is that people are beginning to question their local MPS what have you done to improve my area what have you done to improve my life situation so in that sense I think the bread butter issues because you know in Hindi they say Boga such the truth about the lived realities of my life is what is impacting people and I think 10 years is long enough to uh for a large section or a large chunk of Indians to get back to a semblance of normaly and start looking at issues uh which affect their lives and not be swayed only by some Grand nationalistic discourse all this whole effort at you know Hindu K and just vote on religious lines I think the BJP May well realize that uh this time around the situation on the ground is substantially changed you know I do want to talk to you about you know that one case in Karnataka which I think is going to make a difference the uh Niha hirat case um you know there was a young girl who was stabbed to death on campus of her College in hu darad uh she's the daughter of a congress leader uh the accused who is now in police custody is uh a classmate a a young Muslim man who they apparently now on one hand you've had the chief minister who made a statement saying this is not a Law and Order issue uh s said that this was they were you know they had a friendship that went bad and this is why it happened the girl's father has now alleged love Jihad the protest happening in that area saying that this is love Jihad they're asking for him to be encountered or for him to be hung now this is what has happened so far do you think it's going to Dent the congress's uh sort of hold in kartica at this point because even with the the blast in uh you know the the the restaurant the idea was that the Congress is going soft and that is why people are not safe so there is considerable mobilization on this issue uh now obviously as the Karnataka government has been saying this is not a communal killing and you know we had another another killing of of of of RAR by her Hindu whatever relationship gone Liv partner which went bad and she was K so I mean that case didn't get the kind of attention this case is getting uh and and because mainly the media tends to highlight these uh kind of cases much more having said that it is having some impact on the ground in Karnataka there is considerable mobilization by Hindu organizations on the ground as well as on social media uh I think it may just help BJP overcome some of the local questions they were facing in in seats where their MPS hadn't performed for instance utar Canada you there there is considerable resentment du they said we have been voting BJP for six elections now and there's you know we have not gotten anything there is for an airport we have to go either to Goa or to Mangalore uh so in a seat like that or in a seate like belago where the BJP has export imported a candidate like Jag jagadish shatar from another District again another place where they were facing considerable local issues so maybe in these seats where battles were much more localized and and development issues were taking Center Stage it's possible that BJP might be able to uh sort of turn it again back into a ideological issue uh but all said done BJP and uh its Ally and its independent Ally last time had 25 out of 28 uh seats in Karnataka uh I don't think they will still be able to rep repeat that performance that is the problem BJP is facing across even as it claims it wants to you know gain 70 odd seats more from its 33 uh most of the states where it is already powerful it has already saturated uh so despite all these attempts I think at most the these can be read as attempts by the BJP to cut its losses rather than any realistic chance of expanding you know um prab Banu is really interesting colum in the Indian Express as well where he sort of echo what Mr Raj Mahan is saying to us which is that uh it's been 10 years with the BJP and there are now several things that people are considering perhaps that were not around in 2019 one of the things he talks about is even though there's no accusation of corruption that has stuck to the Prime Minister he personally seems U not not a corrupt Poli she seems Incorruptible um the nakani dunga bit is drawing a question because it's difficult to sort of say so this was this was a you know very prominent that a they have invited a lot of very corrupt opposition members into the party given them tickets overnight uh it's difficult I think for any Indian to say that in terms of corruption things have gotten better in lived experience like like you were saying you know our experience on the ground might not have changed that much so is that going to be a difficult thing to sort of push forward that this is a party that stands against corruption very clearly because they have not prosecuted per se um the old corrupts they are now part of the BJP in some way or the other and so the Prime Minister by himself is not able to be you know carry this on his shoulders Mr M oh you ask when I mean all I can say is that this nakaa uh even the Naka seems a little dubious no after what we've heard about and what we've seen about the Electoral bonds I mean look at the way they have squeezed people pressurized people got their I mean AD can certainly give you a much better perspective on that I can only say that you know if you look at the uh electoral born story and the details of that they they seem pretty horrific I think there is massive Clash of Interest happening in so many places the the arm twisting leading to money I mean even the farma companies which were under a cloud uh donating to the BJP and then getting away I think there is a huge question mark if you look at the Electoral bom story secondly what about their uh own people who in different states have hardly been uh you know the epitome of honesty and incorruptibility uh even assuming that Mr Modi is spotlessly clean the fact is that the Karnataka government for instance was Notorious for what was it 4% commission 40% commission SAR it was being called uh in Rajasthan also during the previous regime I don't I mean during the previous BJP regime it wasn't as if there were no allegations there were all kinds of bungling in collaboration with lit Modi that bandra Raj was accused of so it's not as if these last 10 years the BJP has been spotlessly cleaned secondly now that the uh they've inducted such a large majority of rather dubious characters from all all political dispensations I mean in Rajasthan itself we've had Mr Mahindra jit malvia who meeting now as a BJP candidate was a senior uh cabinet minister under the Galo government had all kinds of uh you know corruption allegations switched to the BJP and is now their you know is now their candidate in the tribal belt uh similarly in states after States I mean asuk chawan I was just watching yesterday on Twitter somebody who had posted what the Prime Minister had been saying about as chawan in 2014 and how he's now going ahead and campaigning and saying oh what a big asset Mr chawan is for us so these kinds of questions and these uh uh you know uh what should we say I mean the dilemmas that we can see very clearly is something that's going to hurt the BJP and I think if the wave is petering out if the Modi magic is finally coming to some kind of a you know uh lesser sort of effect then these issues which people have seen across the country whether it is himanta biswa going and joining them whether is Ajit PA whether it is a Mahindra jit malvia in Rajasthan and there are a whole lot of dubious characters from Rajasthan Congress whove switched to the BJP and uh I don't think uh anybody in their uh right senses can even remotely call all of them uh very upright examples of politicians who needed to be quickly inducted into the BJP if the BJP actually stands for incorruptibility so there St there and is just sounding like a rather Hollow jumla now yeah yeah no in fact today Mr van uh the E the economic offenses wing of the Maharashtra police closed the case against Ajit baar in The Cooperative Banks scam um and his wife and his nephew his nephew remains with the Shara faction but effectively they've said that there was no there's no criminal uh you know action or there's no wrongdoing here so we're closing the case against these people a closure report has been filed today so for people in Maharashtra remember this uh Cooperative Bank scam was a large point on which the BJP and the Prime Minister campaigned last time saying this is the scam in which they have taken so much money out of your pockets and now that's scam has now conveniently been closed the case has gone away so obviously that's going to come up but um you know other I do want to ask you this when a large number of people switch sdes in the manner that we've seen happen now on one hand yes it uh you know it dents the image of the party it also dilutes its distinctiveness as in what do you need to be or who do you need to be to be a member of the BJP or to be a spokesperson of the BJP because right now honestly even as a journalist when I see a a sound bite of someone I have to go back to check with with hang on I don't remember this person used to be a congress spokesperson they're now BJP spokes people so even in my head it's starting to blur but will there be desant within the BJP people who've been waiting their turn who've now lost the ticket to someone who's just come in parachuted uh you know two weeks ago two months ago from the other side they get a ticket they get to contest and we've seen in the past that causes a little bit of unhappiness among the Loyalists who've been working for so many years no doubt it does no doubt uh but it's also the case that everyone I think the BJP has become such a centralized uh party that for both resources and electoral viability they uh have to rely on Prime Minister Modi uh so in that sense that gives local leaders much less leverage Vis A is the central leadership also in terms of distinctiveness uh we must uh also remember the kind of adaptability some of these turn cods have shown himanta vishwas Sharma uh he is now as more hinda than probably many hinda leaders were uh and and he has always been like that he used to be with our all Assam students union and then he joined hands with the Congress and became completely congressi and now he with the BJP is more BJP than most BJP people uh so I mean all these leaders are pretty adaptable and they speak the language of their uh of their party quite well in that sense so U the other thing that I want you to bring up is of course the question of the election commission and this is to both of you uh we'll start with Mr Man the election commission when the Press asked the election commission about the Prime Minister speech on Sunday it was no comments since then we know that the congress party themselves with abishek maningi have filed a complaint asking the election commission to look into this matter there's been no update from the commission itself self is it is this in your opinion Mr vahan normal procedure that takes some time to look into you know today there was some Source based uh you know sound bit saying it's being looked into this is how it normally happens or do you think the election commission is being let's say um quieter than it should be well I mean if the processes are to take so long that you know their action virtually becomes redundant then I think they need to uh you know speed up their processes but frankly there's not that much uh there's not that much that one can hope for from the from the election commission of India they don't seem to be um you know going proactive when it is BJP leaders who are in the dock or who are being questioned for whatever they've said in uh and then in this case of course it's the top sort of functionary of the entire country and the BJP who is uh you you know but what is interesting f is not just that the election commission is maintaining their silence because they've virtually been silent for so many years when it comes to the BJP it's not just the F it's not the first instance I mean I remember even in Rajasthan elections we did have a number of complaints of these hate speeches and nothing really materialized so I think somewhere the whole majoritarian mind mindset seems to have Afflicted a large section of India's uh uh you know institutions also and sadly far from being tough to like say Mr s in the past uh to try and ensure a Level Playing Field what we're seeing is that the uh the election commission kind of uh you know connives or gives it a royal ignore and doesn't even respond it's not just parties I mean For Heaven's Sake in this one there are thousands and thousands of citizens of the country who are complaining to you it's not just a partisan thing it is something where people who believe in certain values who stand for an India uh which will revolve uh around equality in terms of religion and cost and there's going to be no discrimination and those kinds of things it is people who stand for those values who stand for a secular lifestyle in this country who are being betrayed and sadly uh we must of course remember that the election commission hasn't really distinguished itself even in the 2019 elections and this time around uh they seem pretty passive as far as this particular I mean you can't have a commission of what uses a commission if it comes up with any lame duck statement or action well after the whole incident has played itself out and there you know whatever electoral impact is to happen has already happened there's been no reaction whatsoever in contrast when it is opposition leaders the commission seems fairly proactive so I think somewhere this whole notion of the election commission enforcing a free and fair election in this country is kind of getting diluted and people are seeing that the EC is becoming just another institution like the Ed or the CBI kind colling in the last few years was it always like this now we remember some of us remember Mr San there might be younger audience members who don't remember what he was like but what was the election commission say 15 years ago or 20 years ago was it like this uh I think the election commission has always been full of bureaucrats and bureaucrats do T to favor those who are in power to a large extent that's the training that they receive all through their lives and that's the way they tend to function but I don't think there was this kind of brazenness and this kind of inaction that we now see if there was um a particularly offensive thing that may have been uh said In the Heat of an electoral battle they at least went ahead and you know wrapped people on their Knuckles even if it was not very Stern or tough action you could see that the commission was sending off some notices asking for explanations etc etc which in which in itself then had a kind of salutary impact on others from going ahead and becoming ballistic in the Electoral sort of Arena so uh in that sense I think things have transformed dramatically a large number of India's institutions even not exemplary I I don't think they were but there were moments of exceptions but not as a regular sort of habit that they are going ahead and uh I mean month after month after month we've seen how the Ed for instance has gone ahead it's very strange they seem to pick up cases only at the time when some uh you know state is going for election and then those uh you know opposition leaders are targeted and then the issue is kind of Forgotten and swept on the carpet and then nobody even remembers what the Ed is doing or not doing on those issues quite often the Ed actions have been pretty dubious and then they just let it sort of you know die out the issues created for instance in the Rajasthan elections uh the Congress Chief was targeted by the eted since then we've seen a kind of a sanata I mean there's a complete pin drop silence on those cases we haven't seen any great uh movement forward uh if there were really such uh serious um allegations or such a serious situation in which the chief in Rajasthan was involved then I think they should have been going even more uh aggressively in these last four or five months when the BJP has been ruling in Rajasthan and yet we find that so in that sense you find that it's all to give a kind of an electoral advantage to those uh who rule over them at a center and uh sadly the EC seems to be following in the same sort of route ad what can the EC actually do what are what is within its P we here we we read that the EC has censured a particular candidate or a campaigner what is can they suspend someone from being a candidate can they remove someone from the election what is within on paper within the uh the E's power to do so depending on the offense I think in the past for hate speeches they have suspended a few people from camp in for 2 days or 3 days or some period like that that has happened even for BJP leaders if I'm not mistaken but I think where the E is really going wrong are in the absolutely black and white cases of of of modal code of conduct violations like what was committed by their mer candidate Arun goil in which he's carrying a a picture of Lord Ram with him uh so it's you know that is clear violation of the people representation of people act and the model code of conduct km shaji of I don't know Mr shaji of iuml he was disbar from contesting for six years uh uh in Kerala for a similar offense asking uh votes in the name of religion uh so that is the extent to which punishments can go for absolutely similar offense to what shaji had committed in in in Kerala but I don't the BJP hasn't the EC hasn't acted against the BJP cand in mer uh the BJP unit in telengana put out a video asking for votes in the name of ram Mander there are Holdings saying uh by the BJP saying whenever you know if you want to protect Dharma you have to vote for BJP so it is getting absolutely blatant even if you discount the PM speech uh you still have very black and white cases of seeking votes in the name of religion uh and yet the EC hasn't taken any action so it's actually pretty pathetic on part of the election commission present yeah I you know it's also now reached a point where there's no gray area uh you know we're not speculating oh is the election commission going slow if the election commission is not doing its job I think that that's a fair thing at this point to just call out that they simply not doing their job seem to have lost Rajan manah but we'll try and get him back I do want to ask you ad about the Surat candidate this again a fascinating thing has happened in Surat the BJP candidate has already won the election it's been declared in his favor not a vote been cast because the Congress candidate uh nomination was uh basically disqualified the other candidates eight other candidates withdrew their candidature leaving this person the only one standing and hence he has one is that normal you know draw a question about what's actually going on here I think there is some great degree of compromise that has happened uh I mean the the congress's own Surat unit has accused their own candidate of compromising with the BJP it's not something I'm coming up with because it's a bit spectacular that three of the people who are proposing the candidates nomination all of them their signatures are found to be wrong and they are relatives of two are relatives of the candidate one is a friend uh so that happens uh then suddenly the independent candidates they all decide to withdraw their candidat there's a scroll Story the independent candidate is telling the that oh I wanted to contest only because of the traffic Wars in Surat but BJP has assured me that they'll address all the traffic WS so I have decided to withdraw uh the bsp candidate decided to withdraw and he went aall uh stopped answering their own parties uh calls so it's uh absolutely I mean it's it's bizarre uh what happened in Sur but what I don't understand from on part of the BJP is that Surat is a seat they got 70% of the votes last time they will win that seat anyway and so why go through this entire elaborate process I think it's also this uh desire on the part of Mr CR patil to sort of show complete doin uh domination in in of of the political sphere in Gujarat that people are not even contesting against us you know it's like it's going Beyond Charo par it's like there no we don't need elections to winin Gujarat it's almost like that so it is just to make a statement they probably engineered this entire thing in Surat mran Surat you find that surprising because I mean of all places Gujarat is I would assume a place where the BJP doesn't need to you know do things like this I I don't find it surprising I find it shocking and I think it at one level reflects the kind of brazenness with which the BJP now is operating in the country they believe they can get away with anything and to a large extent uh if you look at it very uh you know with your eyes open in many many ways the BJP is getting away with whatever they want to get away with I mean for so many years the Supreme Court didn't even bother to hear the El electoral Bond's case do you realize that we all could have become aware of all of these things if the EC had listened to the I mean if they had heard the entire case and if some of these truths that I must compliment the Quint also for coming out with I mean the brilliant coverage from the Quint uh on the Electoral Bond story uh and a large number of other I mean there's another friend Nan Sati and his group the reporters Collective they've also come out so the kind of details they could have come out much much earlier uh than what we've seen uh so to a large extent I think the Surat situation reflects the bjp's increasing uh should one say arrogance or their complete overconfidence that they can get away with anything and it is I think this overconfidence that at one level is going to be ched if IND does uh voters uh reflect the kind of ground realities that one is seeing in Rajan that I one is not saying that you know sain pilot of course has made the claim that in Rajasthan the Congress is going to get more seats than the BJP out of the 25 total 25 I don't believe that is happening but certainly most political observers in the state are now going to be surprised if the Congress doesn't get uh quite a handful of seats in the desert state so in that sense the Surat uh you know Saga to me uh what it tells me is that so what about the voters of Surat yeah shouldn't the EC and it brings me to the EC's question again I mean shouldn't the ECF rethought this entire exercise shouldn't the EC have said okay so it since there's only one candidate left here scrapping this entire election we're going to have a reelection in this particular constituency I mean For Heaven's Sake the people of surra deserve even if the vast majority of them say 70% or 60% or whatever would have voted a BJP candidate in but let them at least vote let them exercise their franchise here you depriving people of their basic rights and how could the EC Overlook that how could the EC's uh you know representative in Surat not have had a proper confabulation and if it did happen that all the top guns in the EC and Delhi also went ahead and discussed this issue and yet they all decided in their wisdom that well yes we can allow just one person is left I mean just sounds terribly sord to me what the BJP is trying to do is I think what adya said they're looking at a snowballing effect they're looking at impressing the voters across the country that look there's no point in even opposing the BJP anymore we are so strongly placed that uh you know all parties are kind of deserting most the leaders are coming and joining us and there's really no contest which are I mean I'm wondering there somebody who jocularly said on Twitter that you know I mean they could well be getting now next step is that the BJP may start might start getting seats in Bangladesh and Nepal and Sri Lanka and all of those elections also we may have the BJ I it's a rather flipping comment I think at some reflects the frustration that a lot of people have begun to feel about the way things in the country are being managed I think it was it was Raven readyy who was speaking to the press and he said that listen we're talking about Charo par they should they've maxed out certain States so they will either do the same or less and there are he said he said in all of South India they're not going to get more than 15 seats so there's no way they can get 400 unless they're also going to win in Nepal and Bangladesh and Pakistan as well that was a statement that he had made okay I don't was it rant ready I don't know I read it in somebody else's uh tweet and I I mean it stayed in my mind because I found it quite hilarious but at the same level it kind of you know reflected the way things look like I mean if Sur if this is going to happen then you know we've seen arm twisting and people joining their party we've seen arm twisting and people giving electoral buying electoral bonds and uh you you know investing in the B I mean For Heaven's Sake then let's finish with this Shad if this is how it's going to be then elections just look like a elaborate sort of exercise which is completely meaningless let's scrap it I mean if this is how you want to do things that people are going to be you know either seduced you know D that's what is happening so either you seducing people to join you giving you know the carrot and stick policy and you you're getting a whole election virtually turned meaningless in Sur and the E very happily announcing that yes indeed they've got one they you that that brings us to the end of this conversation though thank you both gentlemen for spending time and helping us understand this it's a fascinating phase two as well uh that we're going to see voting in across Rajasthan across karnat uh several other very interesting seats candidates in the frey we'll be here on a on a daily basis and of course with Quint on a weekly basis take a look at the Quint website uh you'll see Mr mahan's column you'll see all the work that Aria and his team are making uh uh you know at this point that they're working on the ground for us at beetroot do download our app we put out the news in the simplest form fashion in the easiest way you know to consume uh and uh we have a membership open on YouTube right now where you can sign up and support our team uh anoj Aman pavi pratique thank you for supporting us um and I appeal to the rest of our viewers to support us as well also in exactly 10 minutes I will be back with the live reading of the news which is a new format we're working on so do stay with us uh and we'll read the news together and everything interesting that's happened today that's at uh that's at 8:00 so stay with us come back for that live thank you so much for watching we'll continue of course to track this fascinating election

Channel: Faye D'Souza

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Id: HZFvmn6KNAE

Length: 48min 30sec (2910 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 24 2024